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Columbia River Campaign
The Columbia River Campaign, also known as the Columbia Offensive, the Battles of Columbia, or the Battle of the River by veterans, were a series of costly offensives and battles waged by both Cascadia and the New Comintern Pact during the Cascadian Civil War for control over the Fraser River. The battles were part of the larger Comintern Southern Offensive where the Comintern armies were attempting to secure and occupy Cascadia's southern provinces and use the Fraser River as a means of supplying their troops and distrupting the Cascadian logistical system. Cascadian intelligence had gotten word of the upcoming Comintern offensive, but were unaware of its true size, what units were involved, and where they would strike first. The battle began on February 21st, 2285 with a Comintern thrust into the Fraser River from the north and captured much of the northern areas around the river. The Cascadian counter-attack managed to recpature lost ground and much of the river, but the Comintern maintained a foothold in the area. The offensive came to an end on September 28th with the signing of a ceasefire and the river held by both sides. The campaign was a major significant event in the history of the Cascadian Civil War as it saw the arrival of troops from the New California Republic for the first time and the campaign saw a war of mobility in the south, which was the opposite in the central and northern fronts. The battle saw the NCR assert its role in the diplomacy of the war and would send more troops throughout the war. The campaign is infamous for its high casualty rates with veterans from both sides refering to the campaign as the Columbian Meat Grinder.' ' Background February 2285 opened badly for the Republic of Cascadia as it saw the loss of the Rocky Mountains to the Comintern in their surprise offensive and Fort Nelson, the headquarters of the Northern Army Group, remained under near constant threat despite the city being resupplied constantly. The Comintern had regrouped and brought in fresh reinforcements and their reserves as well as their industrial capabilities managing to allow them to produce new tanks, APCs, and other armored vehicles, both contentional and not. The Cascadian Army was also mobilizing fresh reinforcements and new units, but these were conscripts and largely citizens of low morale who enlisted either by legal mandate or because they were convinced by state insentives such as food and shelter. Xavier Cromwell, Minister of Defense for Cascadia, was concerned over the possibility of the loss of the Fraser River and thus devoted fresh supplies and weapons to the Southern Army Group believing that their supplies were a top priority compared to the Northern and Central Army Groups whose fronts were largely silent and inactive by the start of 2285. Commanders Xavier Cromwell had been the leading commander of the Cascadian Defense Forces since the beginning of the war while Chancellor Jerome Bennett served as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Benett himself had appointed Xavier as the de-facto supreme commander due to his military experience and Bennett himself had free reign over the Cascadian armies. Wanting to defend the southern provinces, Xavier appointed General Winston Cantrell as Field Marshal and head commander of the Southern Army Group due to his victory at the Siege of Fort Nelson. On the other side, the Comintern's Central Military Command had been mobilizing new armies and asigned them to the Northern and Alberta Fronts and used new units to form the Southern Front under the command of General Wayne Mccullough. Generals Anderson and Armstrong had captured much of Eastern Cascadia, but were bogged down in an attritional stalemate and were ordered to launch diversionary attacks in support of General Mccullough's main assault. The main units of the Southern Front were the newly formed 19th, 27th, 32nd, and 13th Armies with support from the 21st and 22nd Air Armies and volunteer battalions from the Midwest. First Comintern Offensive Battle of Spokane The offensive began on February 21st with the 9th and 13th Armies of the Southern Front making their first move with support from the 22nd Air Army and were tasked with capturing the city of Spokane as its primary target for the first phase of the campaign. Towns, villages and settlements in the region around Spokane were to also be captured, but fighitng was forbidden unless enemy forces open fired on Comintern ground troops. Spokane was held only by the 37th Reserve Regiment and was only reinforced by the 71st and 29th Infantry Regiments of the 14th Infantry Division and were the first units of the Southern Army Group to oppose the Comintern's Southern Front. Skirmishes broke out between the two sides and intensified as the Comintern forces drove closer and closer to Spokane. The 29th Regiment was the one facing the 19th Army while the 27th and 37th Reserves were setting up defenses outside of the city. By the 27th, all Cascadian forces withdrew back to Spokane after the Comintern forces repulsed them and were now at the gates of the city. The 19th Army lauched a series of attacks on the outer defenses of the city and were repulsed, but managed to weaken the defenses which were broken on March 2nd by the 13th Army which siezed the city while the 19th Army was given fresh reinforcements and new reserves. Fighting continued outside of the city and the frontline kept pushing deeper and deeper into the city until it surrendered on March 8th after the reservists withdrew and the 29th Regiment was forced to surrender and reform. Yakima-Kennewick Offensive After the fall of Spokane, the 19th Army haulted to wait to resupply while the 27th Army progressed from the south and the 32nd Army from the north pushed to the nearby cities of Yakima and Kennewick. Both cities were locations that the Cascadian troops withdrew to after the fall of Spokane and awaited reinforcements and attempted to wait and hold their positions from the Comintern forces. The Comintern forces quickly encircled the two towns and began laying siege to them. The Cascadian forces held their positions and managed to hold out longer than expected, but fell after a week of fighting. The first offensive came to an end on March 2nd and was declared a success and the Comintern gained a major foothold in Southern Cascadia and captured much of the Columbia River. With both towns captured and many nearby settlements, the Comintern had gained a major foothold in and around the Columbia River and occupied most of Southern Cascadia and even made it to the border with the NCR, though Red Army troops were ordered to not engage NCR troops to keep them neutral in the conflict. On the 20th, all Comintern forces halted for resupply and many units were deployed for defensive purposes. The units stopped for three days and waited for resupply before moving on to Tacoma to capture it and secure control over the entire southern border and push north to capture the entire Columbia River. As the Red Army stopped to resupply, Cascadian reserve units were brought in to defend Tacoma for the upcoming battle. Cascadian Counter-Attack Battle of Tacoma On February 22nd, General Winston Cantrell had arrived and set up a field HQ inside of Tacoma. The city was largely spared from the Great War and radiation levels were generally low allowing the Cascadian forces to set up defensive positions inside most of the city. The town hall was where his HQ was set up and Cantrell commanded 4,000 men of the 13th Infantry Division accompanied by 12 tanks from as part of the 32nd Armored Regiment and other vehicles being technicals, makeshift APCs and other fighting vehicles. On the 24th, Comintern bombers from the 122nd Air Regiment, consisting of makeshift bombers and restored Lancaster bombers, began bombing Tacoma and the city was bombarded by the 44th Artillery Company in the process. A frontal assault was launched on the 26th and saw the outer defenses taken, but the Comintern forces were stopped on the 28th after capturing most of the city's suburbs. The downtown center was still bombed via artillery and air raids, but the HQ remained intact due to it being placed underground to survive the heavy surface damage. Urban combat broke out and saw the Cascadians suffer 84 casualties and the Comintern 98-102 total casualties until the attack was called off on March 2nd and the Comintern withdrew to friendly lines after supply lines were being strained. War of Attrition and Stalemate By late March, the frontlines had halted and a stalemate had settled in following a series of failed Cascadian attacks on Comintern positions. By March 18th, Comintern troops had created a network of trenches similar to that of World War I and had established a network of strong defensive positions eventually forcing the Cascadians to build a similar network and a war of attrition had settled in. The Southern Front had called up some of its reserves and went on the defensive seeking to soldifiy their gains in the northern and eastern areas around the Columbia River that were successfully taken during the opening offensive. The Cascadian High Command had given permission for the Southern Army Group to set up defensive positions, but also called for divisions to be ordered and organized in preperation for future offensive operations. Final Attacks and Ceasefire NCR Military Intervention Last Offensive and Ceasefire Aftermath Outcome Analysis The outcome of the campaign remains severly contested years after the end of the Cascadian Civil War. In October, Defense Minister Cromwell claimed that the campaign was a tactical victory for the Cascadian Army as while they lost territory, they prevented the loss of the entire Columbia River and prevented the collapse of the Southern Army Group. The Comintern claimed to have scored a strategic victory as by capturing most of the southern provinces, they inhibited the ability of the Cascadian Southern Army Group to properly recapture lost ground and have now hold the frontline on the southern front. In 2286, the NCR-led Cascadian Peace Committee formed a commission to find out the outcome of the battles and came to the conclusion that it was a strategic stalemate and tactically indecisive and the report became general consesus in 2298, years after the end of the war. Casualties and Losses The casualties and deathtoll of the entire campaign was collected after the end of the battle, but a complete report wasn't released until 2292, the last year of the war. According to a casualties report, the CDF suffered 8,610 total casualties and the IPRA suffered 9,684 total casualties. 2,143 Cascadian soldiers were killed throughout the entire campaign and suffered 4,123 men wounded while 3,218 Comintern soldiers were killed and 4,123 wounded over the course of the seven month campaign. 2,343-2,344 soldiers from both sides were captured over the course of the fighting and held in various prison camps. Both sides suffered heavy material losses with hundreds of fighting vehicles, mostly technicals and other makeshift APCS and tanks, were destroyed, disabled and/or lost. The bulk of material losses from both sides occured during the trench warfare stages and during the final attacks between the IPRA and CDF-NCR Army forces. The losses were highest of the Cascadian Civil War and remained one of the deadliest campaigns of the entire war rivaled only by the Grand Central Offensive of 2289. The losses were high by post-war standards and the scar was felt by civilians in both Cascadia and the New Comintern Pact decades after the war's end. Civilian casualties were some of the worst in the entire war as civilians were caught in the middle of the fighting. Settlements that resisted either Cascadian or Comintern forces were attacked and many razed to the ground. At least 400 civilians were arrested and forcibly imprisoned by Cascadian forces, mainly from the infamous 14th Volunteer Regiment, and 700 interned in camps. 300 civilians arrested by the IPRA and 1,400 sent to labor camps in Alberta. At least 2,383 civilians were killed during the fighting and 4,877 were displaced and became refugees in both Cascadia and Comintern territory. Sporadic Fighting Legacy Category:Battles Category:Events